German niche: Comic Con and DreamHack

MCM Comic Con is to bring its pop culture events to Germany and Belgium this summer. MCM Hannover Comic Con will head to Hannover Messe on 4-5 June and MCM Belgium Comic Con will take place at Brussels Expo on 11-12 June.

Earlier this year, Iron Man artist and comics legend Bob Layton attended press conferences to officially unveil the two new shows in Brussels on 27 January and Hanover on 28 January.

“The new Hanover and Belgium Comic Cons are the first to be launched under our ‘MCM Central’ brand, announced earlier this month,” said MCM managing director Bryan Cooney.

“They mark the first stage of our accelerated growth plan for 2016 and beyond, which will see MCM broaden its UK offerings and roll out events across mainland Europe.”

The organisers of London Comic Con – the world’s third largest comic con with more than 130,000 visitors over three days – MCM hosts events throughout the United Kingdom, as well as shows in Dublin, Stockholm and Malmö.

MCM events feature a wide range of media, from movies, comics and videogames to online video, anime and cosplay.

Old hacks…

Meanwhile, at Leipziger Messe, the inaugural DreamHack Leipzig has been hailed a success.

More than 12,000 visitors streamed into the Leipzig trade fair’s Hall 5 to experience the official German platform of the Swedish DreamHack, the world’s largest e-sports festival, from 22 to 24 January.

Every seat in the grandstands was filled during the tournaments between the professional players. Concentrated silence and frenetic cheering marked the ebb and flow of tension and euphoria.

At the same time, more than 1,000 gamers made Germany’s largest Local Area Network (LAN) into a place that never slept during the past three days.

The DreamExpo exhibition area with integrated DreamStore presented the latest hardware, gaming equipment, games and merchandise, and was a lively playground for gamers, streamers, YouTubers and cosplayers late into the evening hours.

“The e-sports and gaming scene has found its home in Leipzig. The excitement was palpable everywhere. The concept of combining the e-sports tournaments with the exhibition area, the LAN and numerous highlights on the events stage was a total hit,” says Markus Geisenberger, managing director of the Leipzig Trade Fair.